How old is your heart?

Riveroaks said:

At age 39 I would guess 5 to 8 miles would be your max, not 20 miles.

Most people even in great shape are hard pressed to run a half marathon -- 13 miles.

So 20 would be unthinkable for any smoker.

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lulz 'Kay.

winston53660 said:

I tried snorting coke but the ice cubes always got in the way...

Seriously though that is one heck of a terrible drug for the heart so is meth.

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In the 1920's the Cocaine Cola Company used to mix the coke with the soda pop.

Fed drug laws put a stop to that in the 1930's and so they replaced it with synthetic caffeine.

NoC_T said:

Age 39. Heart is 50, apparently. lulz

Heavy smoker, but I could get up right now and run 20 miles. I guess I'm just way out of shape, huh?

Yo gotta love these tests.

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If you heart is age 50, I'd pay attention, if I were you. These are the numbers that doctors look at to gauge your heart health. The medical community didn't just make this stuff up. There's a medical connection between them and the heart.

I used to smoke. Your body is handling the abuse right now, but what will happen is that the effects will come to roost, and you will hit a wall. Your lungs are damaged (the cilia...they don't grow back). You have mild chronic pulmonary disorder; all smokers do. Your body as it ages will not handle it as well. That is true for any abuse, like too much booze, too much junk food, very overweight. All these things come home to roost in midlife. People start getting diabetes, high cholesterol, high bp, whatever. The metabolic syndrome from morbid obesity sets in, and the effects from smoking will start preventing a smoker from doing some things he used to do. With me, my lung capacity was enough that it was getting really difficult to carry bags of sand around my yard for gardening purposes. I'd get out of breath & tire out. Someone else may not have noticed, but I noticed, since I had a comparison that it used to be fairly easy. (I exercised regularly, so was in good shape.)

Riveroaks said:

I am exactly the same age as my heart according to this survey.

The thing that helped me the most is low blood pressure.

However they did not ask about exercise. I ride my mountain bike for exercise.

So there are some flaws in this survey unfortunately.

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The reason it doesn't ask for exercise is because if someone exercises enough to affect the health, that will be reflected in the numbers. It's the numbers that have a medical connection to heart health.

Most people aren't 100% accurate when describing their exercise, and it's impossible to quantify exertion precisely. But if someone does exercise regularly, the numbers will be affected. For me, my blood pressure, which was already normal, dropped quite a bit when I started walking every day. Only moderate exercise is needed to get healthier, I think (as opposed to losing weight, which requires more exertion and for longer). I exercise mildly to moderately by walking every day....every day....for years. In fact, I just went through a two week period where I was bad and ate too much, unhealthy food, and shortened my walking time. When I took my blood pressure I was prepared to be shocked at higher numbers, but my blood pressure was the same as it often is: 96/56. Apparently even a shorter walking time is enough to keep the bp down.

Riveroaks said:

In the 1920's the Cocaine Cola Company used to mix the coke with the soda pop.

Fed drug laws put a stop to that in the 1930's and so they replaced it with synthetic caffeine.

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Misleading as only partially true.

They didn't use cocaine as we know it today, they put Coca leaf extract and Kola nuts in (hence the name), but in such minute quantities as to render health issues improbable.

It was free of the stuff by 1929.

JumpinJack said:

If you heart is age 50, I'd pay attention, if I were you. These are the numbers that doctors look at to gauge your heart health. The medical community didn't just make this stuff up. There's a medical connection between them and the heart.

I used to smoke. Your body is handling the abuse right now, but what will happen is that the effects will come to roost, and you will hit a wall. Your lungs are damaged (the cilia...they don't grow back). You have mild chronic pulmonary disorder; all smokers do. Your body as it ages will not handle it as well. That is true for any abuse, like too much booze, too much junk food, very overweight. All these things come home to roost in midlife. People start getting diabetes, high cholesterol, high bp, whatever. The metabolic syndrome from morbid obesity sets in, and the effects from smoking will start preventing a smoker from doing some things he used to do. With me, my lung capacity was enough that it was getting really difficult to carry bags of sand around my yard for gardening purposes. I'd get out of breath & tire out. Someone else may not have noticed, but I noticed, since I had a comparison that it used to be fairly easy. (I exercised regularly, so was in good shape.)

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I hear ya. Yeah, it's time to quit (again).

I just don't tend to hold with the artificial paper arguments the medical establishment is seemingly enamoured of disseminating.

NoC_T said:

I hear ya. Yeah, it's time to quit (again).

I just don't tend to hold with the artificial paper arguments the medical establishment is seemingly enamoured of disseminating.

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I'm always suspicious, too. But I did find out on my own that what they say about lifestyle and health is true. It was truly remarkable. I joined WW years ago, lost 25-30 lbs (I had quit smoking previously), and started a walking program where I walked about 5 days a week. My blood work was normal. I lived a semi-healthy lifestyle already, and did aerobics & resistance training a couple of times a week. But I started the walking program.

In no time at all, with the wt loss and the walking, my blood pressure and cholesterol and other things started dropping. A lot. Esp. my blood pressure. It was mainly the walking, because that started happening before I had lost much if any weight. So I saw firsthand that it is true what the "experts" say....that if you do this thing and that thing, and don't do this and that, that you will be healthier. High blood pressure does the most damage, I think. My bp dropped from a normal 120/(something)....to 100/60. Now it runs about 96/56.

BTW....my cholesterol was getting high (it hit 190 once), but dropped significantly when I quit smoking. Down to about 155, I think. Now it hovers around 150. The ratio of LDL to HDL is good, and my triglicerides dropped from higher to 116, then down to 62.

If a person starts getting artery or heart trouble, some of these numbers are going to start going screwy. A person won't feel the effects, necessarily. The only way to tell early in is by the numbers. They tell a story.

I would like to get my cholesterol down in the 130s, so I need to focus on that.

OTOH, I would prefer to die from a heart attack than almost any other way.

Well, I couldn't finish the test due to not knowing all the information.

Henrin said:

Well, I couldn't finish the test due to not knowing all the information.

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Bummer, Henrin. Do you not get blood work done? I usually do. A year or so ago I started asking for a copy of the lab results. It's easy nowadays because they'll email them to you. That's why I knew my numbers...I kept the last emailed blood work test results.

My heart age is 47

Gardener said:

I couldn't get very far in the test because of all the damn popups for funeral homes.

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They're trying to tell you something. :lol: